Blog Articles

Lawson-West Solicitors is proud to be a part of the LeicestershireLive Business Executive Awards 2019. As one of the category sponsors of the event, Lawson-West Solicitors is involved in deciding the winner of the Medium Business Executive of the Year award.

Lawson-West Solicitors is truly delighted to be one of the category sponsors at this year’s LeicestershireLive Business Executive Awards and will be sponsoring the Medium Business Executive of the Year category.

– A Timeline of Sexism and Equality. The main Acts of law that have brought us closer to Equality in the UK and within the legal profession.

Lawson-West Solicitors celebrate the one-year anniversary of Market Harborough merger with Brown & Co

World Mental Health Day: stress in the workplace now a commonplace occurrence

Sexual Orientation Discrimination - Association, Perception and “Related to”

The demise of Thomas Cook makes us all fearful about our own employers and their viability

Set to come into force on 6th April 2020, HMRC have released a raft of updated changes to the Off-Payroll Working rules and, in this article, we explore what these changes are and the affect they will have on businesses.

BREAKING NEWS - The Divorce, Dissolution and Separation Bill, which aimed to bring in a system of no-fault divorce, has also been automatically dropped as a result of the Prime Minister proroguing Parliament.

In this article we look at divorce and separation from the children’s perspective and consider ways to limit the impact of this life-changing event.

Lawson-West hosts 'The Business Quiz' - 29th October - we are supporting LOROS in this charity quiz evening

David Heys identifies a few of the Hard Brexit choices that business owners may need to face in the coming months.

IHT is the tax applied to a person’s estate (their money, properties and possessions) after they have died.

A Beginner's Guide to Attorneyship - Everything you need to know if you are appointed as a Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA).

Our next Leicester seminar: Making Sense of Business Contracts

Employment tribunals can be unpleasant and uncomfortable and usually come at a time when an employee is already upset and worried.

The common understanding of a Will is a document that leaves your property and money to others when you die, but it actually does much more than that.

Law firms and business support organisations talk about placing clients at the centre of their thinking, but reaching-out to business individuals means more than just providing perfect legal advice and beautifully crafted letters.

Most employers understand that pregnant women have protected employee rights should an employer try to dismiss them whilst pregnant …so why do pregnancy discrimination cases still happen?

A recently concluded case, Bates v Post Office Ltd, has brought into question the efficacy of the contracts between sub-postmasters and the Post Office, in terms of their implied duty of good faith in ‘relational’ contracts. In a landmark case which concluded in recent days, the High Court has ruled that sub-postmasters' contracts with the Post Office were "relational contracts", in which there was an implied obligation of good faith.

In a landmark leap forward in equal rights, Swedish car manufacturer, Volvo, has launched a pilot gender-neutral parental leave policy for the entire European, Middle East and Africa sales teams.

Employment Appeal Tribunal sends case back to Employment Tribunal for further hearing. The case between Mr & Mrs Frupp and the Partington Group PLC, argues that the Claimants were paid less than minimum wage for a period of 7 years.

According to Ministry of Justice Figures, there were 6,550 disability discrimination claims at employment tribunals last year. This is a 37% increase on the year before, and represents a growth rate which is eight times faster than the increase in total claims over the same period.

EU-wide rules were recently approved by the European Parliament which, when ratified, will lay down new, EU-wide standards to protect whistleblowers. Recent scandals, such as Cambridge Analytica and the Panama Papers, have highlighted the importance of whistleblowers in helping to fight corruption and exposing unlawful activities that are damaging to public interests and our general welfare.

The Islamic tradition Ramadan will commence this Sunday 5th May for 30 days. During this time individuals observing Ramadan will fast between the hours of sunrise and sunset. As an employer it is important to be aware of anyone in your team who is observing Ramadan and ensure suitable provisions are in place for those individuals in order to support them. Fasting will take place mainly during working hours and it is important to be aware of the potential impact it can have in the workplace.

A recent article in the Times newspaper stated that five prosecutions a week are being brought due to alleged abuse through a Lasting Power of Attorney. They also quoted a figure of over 2,000 cases a year being investigated. But although this sounds high, it is suspected that 1 in 6 Lasting Powers of Attorney will be abused.

Flexible working is, perhaps, the panacea for many parents. In addition, manged in the correct manner, it may be a long-term solution for employers too, facing a skills gap, an issue with finding employees in a post-Brexit Britain and even to resource existing vacancies that require a particular skill or personality fit. So, what is the problem?

In October 2018, the government started a consultation into whether organisations should be required to report on the pay differentials between people from different ethnic backgrounds. This consultation was largely a response to a report by Baroness McGregor-Smith: ‘Race in the Workplace – The McGregor-Smith Review’.

A landmark ruling in a contentious probate case has recently been reported upon by Gordon Exall, Barrister, Zenith Chambers, Leeds & Hardwicke, London. The case, in which a ‘limitation amnesty’ was agreed between parties in reference to a claim that the monies left on trust by her late husband, were not sufficient to meet her needs, has hit the legal press following a statement in the ruling by Mr. Justice Mostyn.

On the 6th November 2018, the government reintroduced the idea of a “banded” probate court fee; charging those with a lower estate value a lower amount than those with a higher estate value. The date for these increases was announced as the 1st April 2019, and those of us making applications were working harder than ever to ensure applications were in before this date.

As occurs every April, there are a number of changes to employment law, remuneration and workers’ rights which have been published and come into effect this month. This article covers the top six changes that all employers should be aware of.

The UK’s Electronic Communications Code (ECC) has been updated a number of times in recent months, to support the government’s broadband ambitions. The 2017 Electronic Communications Code came into force on the 28th December 2017, giving telecommunications operators statutory rights to install and operate electronic communications apparatus on, under or over land in connection with the provision of their network.

A recent study has found that last year employees In the UK worked the equivalent of £32 billion worth of unpaid overtime. In working hours this equates to over 2 billion hours of overtime. Whilst sitting down to write this at home after a day at work, this is hardly surprising.

Employee wellbeing is not a new phenomenon, but the recent increase in awareness and publicity surrounding the matter has forced employers to act. The provision of rest breaks, flexible start and finish times and working environments are all under scrutiny but what does the law state?

Managers are often promoted because they are excelling in their role. It may be argued that excelling within a role does not automatically make you an excellent leader.

If you believe you are at the heart of an equal pay issue, in the first instance you need to determine whether the issue is in fact and equal pay or gender pay. These are two very different issues within the workplace, but both could be grounds to make a claim.

More often than not, to buy a house, you will require a deposit. The ability to evidence where this money has come from is a crucial part of the purchase process and an inability to do so can be very problematic.

In June 2016, the UK referendum on EU membership was taken and the UK voted, by a narrow margin, to exit the EU. On the 29th March 2017, the UK Government served formal notice under Article 50 of The Treaty on European Union to terminate the UK’s membership of the EU.

Have the winter blues got you thinking about planning your summer getaway? With January finally out of the way, weekend plans are filling up and many families are turning their attention towards this year’s summer holidays.

As part of an unfair dismissal case, an employment tribunal is having to decide whether or not ethical veganism can be classified as a religion and is thus protected by the 2010 Equality Act.

8 months since the new GDPR regulations were enforced, Google has been hit with a £44m fine over their breach of the rules. Google are the first tech giant to be fined to such an extent, but this is not surprising when you consider that they are one of the biggest handlers and processors of personal data.

With more snow and ice expected fall over the weekend, our Employment Team have looked at some of the questions frequently asked in relation to the impact the weather can have on getting to work.

A study by experts at the Centre for Social Investigation at Nuffield College, University of Oxford reviewed the applications of 3,200 individuals and compared call backs across a number of industries and application arenas.

A revolutionary case could alter the rules surrounding the timescale employers have in providing their employees with a written statement of their terms and conditions of work. It is believed that the impact will be more for those with a high turnover of staff and will require greater organisation from HR departments.

James Haworth, Head of Family Law at Lawson-West Solicitors reflects on the events of 2018, what we learned and how they will shape Divorce Law in the year ahead.

‘It was just a bit of banter’ is a phrase often banded around the workplace, but when does a bit of banter become something more serious? Many people consider the term to imply that something offensive has been said or done whilst others consider it to be playful and jokey.

The new year is full of resolutions and everyone is keen to get themselves organised and cross off jobs they have been putting off. An important one that doesn't take a lot of effort and is extremely worthwhile going is getting your will written if it isn’t already.

The law states that an individual has been unfairly dismissed if it is as a result of an ‘automatically unfair’ reason or discrimination. An employer can dismiss an individual and if the individual deems it to be unfair, they can challenge it.

The countdown to Christmas is in full swing and the excitement is mounting both at home and at work. For most, Christmas means a few days off from work celebrating with friends and family but for the employer this can be a logistical nightmare with cover to organise, parties to prepare for and a workplace to keep happy.

The recent #MeToo movement has exposed an ever-deepening headline of sexual harassment in the work place, spanning across all industries. Google announced recently it has sacked 48 people, including 13 senior managers, over sexual harassment claims in the past two years.